Use Pervious Concrete for On-site Drainage Control

The homeowner had several concerns with constructing a more typical hard-surfaced driveway over an existing gravel driveway. If either an asphalt or regular concrete had been used, several large trees located near the driveway very likely would have perished due to the substantial restriction of water to their root systems. Given that the driveway was near a river, such materials would have also contributed to the acceleration of storm water drainage runoff and in the case of asphalt, there was yet another risk of introducing elevated levels of hydrocarbon contaminants into the water. Due to the permeability of pervious concrete, all of these risks were either avoided or substantially mitigated. Rainwater immediately flows through it to reach the roots of the surrounding trees and does not quickly runoff to the river increasing erosion and environmental contamination. The following is a summary of the process.